Fire Wings and Wolves

Chapter one

It has been a long day, three surgeries, two put downs, and a very angry cat. See I work for Mr. and Mrs. Pollers at their animal clinic. It's not a lot of money but it pays the bills. I slowly trudge to my truck with sore feet and a pounding headache. To top it all off I have another shift at a different job starting in three hours. Knowing I will not be able to go home and sleep, I head to the woods instead.
    Being around raw nature always gets rid of my bad vibes. I park my truck on the side of the road and grab my jacket. I hop out and instantly feel more relaxed; I've been coming to these woods ever since my parents died. It was my safe haven, a place to escape. I walk in-between the trees and over the roots, careful not to make too much noise to disturb the nature here.
    It is really peaceful here, to see a place devoid of all traces of man, a natural home for animals; a place to be free from corruption and lies, a place to truly live free. I walk further into the woods on a hidden trail, to my favorite place. I reach the edge and peer through the bushes. On the other side was a massive clearing. A river with small waterfalls was at the far side. Reeds lay by the water's edge, stones of all sizes were scattered about. Beautiful flowers of all colors and types are littered in the lush green grass. It was completely surrounded by tall trees and thick bushes; completely secluded from the outside world.
    The beauty of this place was not what caught my eye; no, it was the blood on the rocks and ground, not a lot but enough to notice. I followed the trail with my eyes, slowly inching up the riverbank, scared of what I might find. Please not a person, please not a person; I kept chanting this in my head the further I go. As I moved a little more up the rocks, I noticed something on them.
    There was black fur sitting in a ball, a very big ball. Please don't be a bear, or something that wants to murder my face off. I noticed that this animal was severely injured, and might even be dead. I fully entered into the clearing making sure there were no other balls of fur that could sneak up on me. I walk very slowly to the ball, making sure not to step on any crunchy leaves. This animal can jump up and murder me in a second but here I am... walking up to it.
    Now I am only a few feet away, I can now see that this ball of fur is in fact a giant wolf. This doesn't make any sense because there are no wolves in this area, and definitely not of this size. There were long cuts along its side, and a metal bear trap on its front paw. I reach my hand out to see if the wolf is still alive. I slowly place my hand on the wolf's side, with plenty of space between my hand and the cuts. The fur was dirty and clumped with blood, but as I pressed slightly further, I felt the shallow breaths and heartbeat of the animal. This wolf wasn't dead but was dying.
    I quickly take my jacket off and sling it across the wolf's body; my jacket barely covered half. I realized that trying to move the wolf with the bear trap is just going to damage it worse. I firmly, but carefully, grasp the metal in my hands. I slowly started to pull the pieces apart; I then heard a whimper and then a growl. I feel the hot breath of the wolf fanning across my neck.
    The wolf growled again but this time louder, as if it was saying 'what are you doing human? I will bite your head off if you try that again.' I turn to look at the now conscious wolf. Why it hasn't mauled my face off yet is beyond me. I finally look the wolf in the eye, and all I see is green, a beautiful forest green. They seemed to glow against the solid black fur. As I look at the wolf, I become lost in its eyes. How can a wolf have such beautiful eyes?
I snap out of my daze to see the wolf looking at me with a weird wolfish grin, somewhat creepy if you ask me. I look down at the trap that is still on its paw. The wolf follows my gaze and lets out a low growl mixed with a whine.
"Okay, so I'm going to have to get this off your paw to see how bad it is. Then I'm going to try to get you to my truck, somehow, so I can take you home and fix you up. And you are probably wondering why would you bring a wolf home with you? Well if either one of us was going to harm the other I am sure we would have done it by now... and I'm talking to a wolf. I am going crazy." The wolf scoffed at me as if it was trying to laugh at me.
I looked back to the trap; already feeling sorry for the pain I am about to cause; here goes nothing. I wrapped my hands around the trap again; I began to pull the trap apart. The wolf whimpers as I do so, but makes no move to bite me, which I am very grateful for. It takes a lot of effort but I got the trap off. The wolf snatches his paw out and whines the whole way. He licked the wound where the trap dug into its paw.
"Can I see your paw? I need to see how bad it's broken." I say with my hand outstretched. As if the wolf understood me, it slowly inched its paw in my direction. I look at the wolf again. Did it understand me? The wolf was looking at me with an expression that said 'I trust you', if you could even get an expression from a wolf.
I don't know what I'm going to tell my boss. I mean, I could tell her that I found an injured animal on the side of the road. That I'm taking it back to my first job to fix it up, and I can't come in today. I hope she will take it; it's not a whole lie. The wolf nudged my hand to bring me back from the thoughts inside my head. I look down to the paw and slowly pick it up. The wolf better be lucky that I know what I am doing.
"It seems to be broken into three pieces. I'm going to have to put a cast on it if you ever want it to heal properly. Then I'm going to have to stitch up those cuts on your side... and I'm having a conversation with a wolf... again. UGH!" I place the wolf's paw back down very carefully.
How am I going to get this wolf to my truck? It is bigger than me, maybe even twice the size. There is no way I can lift it. I look to the wolf, and then I look around to see if there is anything to help. There is no way I can drive my truck through here. I also highly do not recommend the wolf walking to my truck, but I might not have a choice.
"So I might need you to get up and walk, because there is no way I can lift you, no offence." The wolf looked at me and nodded, weird. The wolf slowly started to stand up. It stumbled forward but I was there to catch it. I was right this wolf can meet my eyes on all fours and I'm 5'9", I'm not a short person.
Now that I can see the full wolf, I can tell it is a male. With my years at the clinic, I have learned how to identify an animal's gender by their body structure, especially with canines. A male canine's shoulders are broader and their paws are bigger.
I slowly, very slowly, walk the wolf back to my truck. I finally got to the side of the road where my truck was parked. I now noticed the usually busy highway was very deserted. Standing there for a solid minute only one car had passed. Normally six or seven cars pass in a minute. Although I was very confused, I was still grateful. I do not want to have to explain to someone why there was a wolf following me and why it was so big.
I quickly crossed the ditch and opened the door for the wolf. Why am I doing this? I am inviting a wolf into my back sea. Who does that? It's probably just waiting to murder me. The wolf walks to the open door and looks at me.
"Need help?" The wolf nods and looks back at the door. I go to the side of him, ready to lift when needed. He places his uninjured paw in first. I grabbed his other leg so he could use it as leverage without having to put weight on the paw part. He pushes up into the truck and I let go of his leg. He quickly lies down on the seat whimpering a small bit.  He doesn't really have a lot of room to move around.
I hopped into the driver seat and grabbed my phone. I quickly type in the number of my boss; I put the truck into gear as I wait for her to pick up the phone. Ring one... ring two...ring three.
"Hello this is Alya's Art Gallery. This is Alya. How may I help you?" I sigh, feeling relieved that it was her that picked up the phone and now that other girl.
"Hi Alya... um... I have some bad news." I can basically hear the worry rising through the phone. Alya had always been super worried about me. She was my mother's best friend, and she helped me when they died. She was like the aunt I never had.
"What's wrong, are you hurt? Seraphina I swear, do you ever stay out of trouble?" Alya sighs and so do I.
"I found an injured animal on the side of the road. I am taking him to the clinic to get fixed up. Can I have the day off? I know it's short notice, but I was on my way to you when I found him there dying." I waited a few moments for her to reply.
"I guess so; I know how you are when it comes to someone or something in need. Just tell me how he is doing when you're done, okay?" I am so glad that Alya understands me so much.
"Yes ma'am. I will call you when I know." I hung up the phone and turned down my driveway. I live somewhat in the woods. Not on the road but not too far in the woods, just secluded. I finally parked my truck in front of my house. I open the door to let the wolf out. He looks at me, then to my house.
"Come on, I don't have all day. If I don't hurry you're going to bleed out, so get your furry butt out of the truck." I made gestures to the house. The wolf jumped out on three paws. I shut the door and walk to the front door of my house.
The wolf pauses for a moment and his eyes cloud over, like he was in deep thought. I whistled really loud to get his attention. He snapped his head in my direction with a look that said 'did you really just whistle at me.' I gestured to the open door and walked inside my house.
I live alone, no family, no friends, and no roommates. I also have no pets; I have enough at the clinic. Plus, with me being barely able to feed myself, how could I sustain a pet. I ran to my room to get my vet bag. Once I have got my bag I head back to the living room where I left the wolf. Or at least I thought I did. I looked around the room again to see if I missed him, like I could miss a 5'9" or so tall wolf. He was definitely not in the living room.
I was walking around the house when I heard a loud noise coming from my room. I was just in there, how could he sneak past me? He is not exactly invisible. I walked into my room to see the huge wolf on my king size bed; he was looking at a photo on my bedside table. It was a picture of my parents and I. It was taken the day before the accident.
"What do you think you're doing? You're getting blood all over my sheets." I stand in the doorway with a hand on my hip. On the other side of the room the wolf whipped his head at me, startled. He glanced at the picture, then at me, then back to the picture. It was like he wanted me to tell him about the photo and who was in it.
"If you go to the living room and lay down on the mat, I will tell you about the picture." The wolf grabbed the picture in his mouth and jumped off the bed. For a wolf that basically bleeding out and has a broken paw, he sure has a lot of energy. I walked behind him as he limped to the living room. Too bad he can't talk, or he could have told me how he got this way.
We turned the corner to the living room and the wolf instantly went to lay down on the mat. He placed the photo on the floor next to him, where he could see it. He then looked at me, waiting for me to explain. I walked around the room gathering tools I needed to help him. After I was done I sat on the floor cross-legged next to the mat, and began to prepare everything. I placed out packages with different colors on them. 
"Choose one." I said looking at the wolf. If he can understand me then he can choose which color he wants. I know this is stupid but here I am. The wolf analyzed the packages before reaching out and grabbing one with his mouth. He dropped the item in my hand, the color was red.
"Congrats, you just picked my favorite color as your cast." I quickly started cleaning the wound where the bear trap was. The wolf nudges my hand to get my attention. I look at him as he looks toward the picture.
"Oh right, the picture, uh well." I start back on his paw as I think of a way to tell this story.
"The people in the photo are my mom, my dad, and me. The photo was taken the day before they died. They were heading across the country on an anniversary trip. As I was told, they were in a car crash somewhere in Washington, with a semi-truck. Killed on impact, the car went up in flames. There was nothing anyone could do. It's been four years, but it still feels like yesterday. I miss them, I miss having a family, and I miss having someone to care about me. I mean yeah I have Alya, but it's not the same as the mother/father bond."
I didn't realize I was crying until the tears fell onto my hands. I don't get upset easily, but my parents have always been a sensitive spot for me. As soon as I finished putting the last roll on the wolf's paw, he was basically in my lap. His head was slung over my shoulder almost like he was giving me a hug. He was trying to comfort me. A wild wolf was trying to comfort me because I was crying.
"Okay chick flick moment is over. I've got to finish stitching you up. Come on, lay down on your side." I pushed the wolf off of me slightly so he would understand. The wolf looked at me for a second, probably to see if I was still crying, then nodded and lied down. He slowly rolled over on his side so I could see the cuts better. I bring the needle and thread to the wolf's side. The wolf whimpers when he sees the needle.
"Afraid of needles are we? Don't worry, I know what I am doing. I work with animals every day. I promise I won't hurt you." The wolf seemed slightly more at ease after this.
I stitched up the wounds with very little resistance from the wolf; they seemed better than I thought. Now that I have stitched him up, here comes the next challenge. He is really going to hate me after this.
"Okay now that's done...bath time!" The wolf instantly crumbled to the floor; his face was filled with regret. He was probably regretting letting me help him.
"Don't give me that look; you need to get cleaned up so the wounds don't get infected. That causes more pain than the initial wound. You also stink and I'm not having you stink up my house. So to the bath ye foul beast." I pointed to the bathroom and laughed. The wolf just stared at me. It was starting to get creepy. He just stares at me for no reason. Almost as though he thinks this isn't real or something.
I quickly ran to the kitchen to grab a plastic bag to put over his cast. After that I head to the bathroom to start running water. As the tub is filling up, I take my sheets and throw them in the washer. Thanks a lot wolf, I just washed these yesterday, making me waste water. I also got out another outfit in case I get soaked, which is very likely.
I walk back to the bathroom to see the wolf staring at the water. When he heard me walking into the room he turned towards me with a look that said 'please don't make me do this.' I shook my head and turned off the water. I took a step back and knelt down to wrap the wolf's paw. After I was done I stood back up and pointed to the tub.
"Get in, don't worry about your paw." The wolf glanced at me and then jumped in the tub making water go everywhere, including on me. I knew that it was a good idea to get out clothes before I did this.
I was in the process of cleaning behind the wolf's head when he decided it's a great time to shake water everywhere. I quickly place my hands on his back in an attempt to make him stop. In return he took his chance and bolted out of the tub; causing me to fall in the tub, in his place.
"Really... Great, now I am soaked even more. My bathroom is a mess and also soaked." The wolf did his stupid laughing thing that he does. I try to get up out of the tub only to have the wolf push me back in.
"Stop it.  This water is disgusting and I need to finish. You have soap all over you still." The wolf nodded and stepped back. I slowly stood up and stepped out of the tub, careful not to slip back in again. The wolf stood idly beside the tub with that cloudy look again; he does that a lot. His face was contorting as if he was having a full conversation inside his head.
After I finished bathing the wolf we moved to the living room so I could dry him off. I guess that my night should be pretty normal. Besides the wolf but after I'm done here I will go to bed.